NHS Band 4 pay after tax
Take-home pay a month
£1,873.94
A full-time Band 4 salary in England starts at £28,392. After income tax, National Insurance and NHS Pension contributions you take home £1,873.94 a month.
Band 4 pays £28,392 at entry and £31,157 at the top in England for 2026/27. That is £1,873.94 and £1,990.47 a month after deductions. The top point also moves into a higher NHS Pension tier, which absorbs a large part of the raise.
| Pay point | Salary | Pension | Take-home a year | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | £28,392 | £1,845.48 | £22,487.26 | £1,873.94 |
| Top | £31,157 | £2,586.03 | £23,885.62 | £1,990.47 |
Pay scale: www.nhsemployers.org/system/files/2026-02/2026%20AfC%20pay%20scales.pdf, effective 1 April 2026
| Pay point | Salary | Pension | Take-home a year | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Point 1 | £31,537 | £2,207.59 | £24,501.64 | £2,041.80 |
| Point 2 | £34,303 | £2,984.36 | £25,853.91 | £2,154.49 |
Pay scale: www.publications.scot.nhs.uk/files/pcs2026-afc-01.pdf, effective 1 April 2026
Examples of Band 4 roles
Assistant practitioner, pharmacy technician, dental nurse, audio visual technician and trainee psychological wellbeing practitioner are the Band 4 examples given on the NHS careers page on Agenda for Change pay.
The pension tier change at the Band 4 top point
NHS Pension contributions are tiered. The rate depends on which pay range a salary falls in, and it then applies to the whole salary. The Band 4 entry salary sits in the same tier as Bands 2 and 3. The top point is above the upper limit of that tier, so the rate on all of the pay goes up.
As a result the pension deduction jumps from £1,845.48 to £2,586.03 when a Band 4 employee reaches the top point. Take-home rises from £22,487.26 to £23,885.62, which is only about half of the increase in salary.
The extra contribution buys more pension, since the NHS scheme builds up a pension in proportion to pay. The figures here show only the effect on take-home pay.
Tax and the Scottish Band 4 scale
England's Band 4 is taxed at the basic rate only. Income tax is £2,793.50 at entry and £3,198.39 at the top, and National Insurance goes from £1,265.76 to £1,486.96.
Scotland's Band 4 runs from £31,537 to £34,303. The Scottish top point falls exactly where a higher tier of the Scottish scheme begins, and its pay is the first on the Scottish scale to reach the intermediate income tax rate of 21%. Scottish take-home is £24,501.64 and £25,853.91 a year. The Band 5 page shows the next step up, and the NHS pay calculator handles part-time hours.
Questions
Why does the Band 4 top point add so little take-home pay?
The top point crosses into a higher NHS Pension tier, so the higher rate applies to the whole salary. Together with tax and National Insurance, that takes about half of the raise.
What is Band 4 a month after tax in England?
A full-time Band 4 employee in England takes home £1,873.94 a month at the entry point and £1,990.47 a month at the top point in 2026/27.
Does part-time Band 4 pay use the same pension tier?
Not always. The tier depends on actual pay, so a part-time salary at the Band 4 top point can stay in the lower tier and keep a lower contribution rate.